Theme of the Week: Basics

A new year means… drilling the basics.  Never fear – the basics, while remaining the same, will lead you to new places.  A solid foundation means having the ability to build creatively.

Today in the 4s&5s class, we practiced our basic strikes, blocks and kicks – plus students threw pads and ran laps.  The throwing and running was a reward for solid basics.  If the students did their basics with good focus and effort, they got to run a victory lap around the floor.  If the students did a good job a second time, they got to hone accuracy and coordination skills with throwing their pad in a bucket.  I’m hard pressed to remember a time when their basics looked better than today.

The great part was that when the end of the class rolled around, we had a ready made conditioning game: throw the pad in the bucket.  If you made it, you threw again.  If you missed, you ran a lap.  The goal was to see how many points you could get in two minutes.

While the adults weren’t rewarded with victory laps/throws (instead they got to partner up and punch at one another), they engaged in much the same effort tonight: reviewing basics.  Check out their feedback here.